Three Wooden Crosses
by Sand n' Sable
Summary: Four people on a bus bound for Mexico. Three Crosses on the side of the highway. Three died but one survived.
1. Chapter 1

**Three Wooden Crosses-Yes, I made a story behind the song that is so wonderfully done by so many artists. I do not own rights to the song, just to this story.**

** November 1971**

_A Farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher, ridin' on a midnight bus to Mexico._

_One's headed for vacation, one for higher education and two of them searchin' for lost souls. That driver never saw the stop sign and 18_

_wheelers can't stop on a dime._

'My brother better really have an emergency to get me out at this time of night and in this stupid weather. No snow but it's cold as well water out here.'

A tall man, roughly about 6 feet tall in a blue flannel shirt and a heavy blue jean jacket, thick blue jeans and muddy boots. He picks up a suitcase and walks over to a ticket booth and there sat a pretty strawberry blond, slightly plump young woman and he said:

"Hi Marlene."

She looked up and with a slightly shocked face she said,

"Ronald, I'm surprised to see you here. You're usually heading for bed 'bout now."

He gave a wry chuckle then said, "I know, farmer hours but my brother Mark called; he's having some kind of emergency so I'm going. My son can take care of the farm until I get back."

She's getting out a book with tickets for the bus in it and as she pulls it out she asked, "80 acres? You think he can handle that?"

Ronald gave a proud, broad smile then said, "Ron Jr. , can handle it."

She nodded her head, handed him the ticket then said, "25 dollars please."

He gets out his wallet, hands her the money then she said; "It'll be just a little while Ronald."

"Fine, thanks Marlene."

She nodded her head then saw a woman coming up to her holding a small suitcase, her black hair is in a bun, and she throws her black/ white scarf around her neck and tightens her bright green jacket around her then she asked, "Is the bus ready yet Marlene?".

Marlene sighed, looked at her watch then she said, "I just got a call Miss Palmer , the bus is supposed to be here in 10 minutes."

This time Miss Palmer sighs then said, "I hope so, I can't believe I've been here since 8 o'clock"

Marlene smiles weakly then said, "I'm sorry. I hope things go much better on your trip."

Miss. Palmer smiled then she said, "I hope so too."

She went back over to her seat, sat down and thought about the parents of her students actually getting together and giving her this trip to Mexico for her birthday ! She was hoping this trip would be something special. She was 35 and unmarried. Things have to change and this trip was a start ! She was going to miss teaching Sunday school to her small class for 8 year olds at Raytown Assembly of God but her sister, Tracey offered to take her place for the week. But now, all she can do is wait for the bus.

At the same time, a man in his 50's comes walking up to the bus station. He stops and zips up his long leather jacket, looks around at the few people waiting for the bus then he went on up to the window, "Hello Marlene."

She looked up and beamed then she said, "Brother Armes !"

He smiled then said, "Please , it's Emmett Marlene."

She smiled then said, "I'm sorry, it's just that my mother would switch me but good calling a pastor by his name."

He smiled then got out his wallet then said,

"A ticket for Mexico please."

She gets out her ticket book then said, "Mexico ? Why are you going there...Emmett "

He shook his head then said, "I really don't know Marlene, the Lord has impressed this trip on me."

She just smiled, gave him the ticket, told him how much money it was for then he as he turned around, he bumped into a young woman wearing a thin dress with a barely enough white jacket, her red hair is in a tattered bun, you can tell she's been crying and her eyes look like raccoons but he stepped aside and overheard her talking to Marlene,

"Please, where's the next bus going to?"

Marlene looked a little shaken then said, "OH, uh Mexico."

The hooker throws here purse on the counter then takes out her wallet, rakes out some money then grabs the ticket from Marlene like a child reaching for candy then she asked in a shaky voice, "When, when's the bus?"

Marlene looked at pastor Emmett sightly worried about what she's going to say,

"I'll be at least 10 minutes, maybe."

With more tears and her blood pressure slightly rising, she said,

"NO! I have to go now ! He'll find me ! That bus has to be here now !"

Marlene looked at Emmett for help and he gave a slight nod of his head then gently put his arms on the woman and said as gently as he could:

"Come, let's sit over here and wait."

The woman just keeps saying, "I have to go now !"

Emmett just nodded his head then said, "I know but there's nothing you can do but wait so let's just sit down."

She finally shook her head and reached in her purse for a tissue. She draws her pitiful moth eaten jacket closer to herself then mutters ,

"It's not much warmer in here than it is outside."

Emmet doesn't even think about it, he just takes off his long leather jacket and says, "Here"

The woman looked shocked then said,

"OH no ! You don't have to give me yours."

Emmett just kindly smiles then said, "Here."

As she puts on the jacket, a Bible falls out with a cross on it and he bends over to pick it up and she asked him,

"Are you a preacher?"

He gets the Bible, wipes the dust off of it then proudly said,

"Yes ma'am, Raytown Individual Church. We're a non-denominational church."

She wipes the tears from her eyes then asked, "What's that?"

He just simply told her, "We don't go by any particular type of religion, just...go by the Lord."

She looked at the Bible then said, "That ain't a King James."

"No ma'am, it's a NASB...some of the people, mostly the young "hippies" are saying..."We don't understand that", so I did some research and found this version, I do like it better and so do they."

She barely gave a smile then said,

"You called me ma'am, you don't have to do that...that's for ladies."

He just thought about that then smiled and said, "You are a lady."

This time she cave him a real smile. The doors to the bus station open and in walks this group of young people wearing only blankets with their head shaved, a young woman walks in front of them, she looked around the bus station, looked at the young woman then whispered something to a man then walked up to Emmett and the young lady with a large floppy straw hat then said,

"Excuse me, would you like this?"

The woman looked at the hat then her then said, "Sure...but why are you giving it to me?"

"I'm to give away all my worldly belongings and I choose you for this hat."

She took the hat with trembling hands then muttered a thank you then the girl in the blanket went with her friends out of the station then the hooker said to Emmett

"It's not for this weather but it's better than nothing."

Emmett then said, "Try it on."

The lady put it on then Emmett said, "Looks good...you never did say what's your name?"

She thought about it then said, "Sophie but I would rather be called Sophia."

Emmett nodded his head then said, "Sophia it is."

She blushed then said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

Marlene overhears then said, "It's just across the hall ma'am."

She gets up to go across the hall and while she walks the door opens again but this time it is a rather large , burly man with an angry look on his face. He sees Sophia go in the bathroom but in her new clothes, he doesn't know it's her.

His round nose is tilted to the left from being broken so many times, his eyes are a dark blue that seem almost black because of his anger. He has jet black hair, thick black glasses and he stomps over to Marlene's small office then growls,

"I'm looking for somebody...my stupid sister...she left home without telling us where she is going. Have you seen her?"

Marlene looks at Emmett and Emmett, he gets up and stares at the strange man then Marlene asked, "What's she look like?"

He growls out, "Like a hooker...red hair."

She looked again at Emmett who just kept looking at her then she said, "N-nobody like that. "

He looked around again then stopped out of the bus station. Marlene gave a sigh of relief then Emmett said a quiet "Thank you."

(((OoO)))

At that same time at a even smaller gas station around the corner, an 18 wheeler pulls in around to the back where the pumps are for the big rigs. A plump man in a green flannel shirt and a wool jacket gets out. He gets the gas pump and puts the gas in then he puts it up and goes inside the station. He sees a young man standing behind the counter listening to the radio then he said,

"Hello Andy, how's college?"

The young man turns off the radio then said, "It's going."

The older man shakes off the cold then Andy asked, "How's the wind outside Mister Maddox? Just looking at it makes me glad I'm inside."

Maddox shakes his head then said, "Worst I've seen around these parts in a decade."

Andy looks at the radio then said, "They said snow is supposed to be here around 4."

Maddox then said, "I should be in Mexico by then. I got some gas Andy, filled her up."

Andy rang up the register then said, "That'll be 35 dollars Mister Maddox."

Maddox reaches for his wallet, pulls out 40, gives it to Andy who gives him change then Andy said, "Mexico? I think that bus is going for Mexico."

Maddox puts the change in his wallet then said, "Maybe I'll tail ride it all the way there...thanks Andy."

Andy smiled then said, "Have a good drive Mister Maddox."

(((oOo)))

Back at the bus station just as Sophia walks out of the bathroom, the bus pulls up. Ronald and Miss Palmer pick up their luggage and go on out to board. Emmett looks at Sophia and said, "Come on."

Sophia wipes another tear away and said, "I can't believe I'm finally getting out of this town."

He thought for a minute then asked, "Why are you leaving?"

She looked down at her old clothes underneath the jacket then said, "You can guess what I am."

He smiled then said, "What you was."

She looked in shock at him then a slow smile of relief came then a man came in the room and said, "All boarding for Mexico now."

Emmett said, "Let's go."

He turns back on the radio to the weather reports as Mattox leaves.

(((OoO)))

At the time when all the passengers are boarding, a strong gust of wind blows up and the "STOP" sign at the corner street where the 18 is driving on comes up and blows it down.

(((OoO)))

Miss. Palmer taps her watch then puts it up to her ear then reaches up and gently touches Bro. Emmett's arm then asks,

"Um, excuse me, what time is it?"

Emmett looks at his watch then says,

"12: 14 ma'am"

Miss. Palmer smiles then said, "Thank you "

He follows Sophia and sat in the seat across from her. Sophia closes her eyes and a tear runs down her cheek then asked,

"D-doesn't it tell us in the B-bible that we'll go on a trip...to Heaven?"

Emmett smiled a mile wide then he said,

"Yes, in the book of Revelation in chapter 21."

He takes out his Bible, turns to the chapter he is talking about then she said,

"I'm pregnant."

He just looked at her without flinching then said, "Congratulations."

"I'I don't know if I can do this alone...he...wanted me to get an abortion...but I couldn't, I just couldn't."

"Your pimp?"

She just looks at him and he said, "You won't be alone...Jesus is there."

The bus started up and they started down the road and he just told her more about the Bible.

Ed Maddox starts up his 18 wheeler and starts down the road.

The bus driver speaks up and said,

"I'm sorry folks that the heater isn't working that well, we're going to try to get it worked on in a few...Lord have mercy !"

All four passengers look up and see the 18 wheeler heading right for them. The driver turns the wheel sharply to the left in an effort to get away but...it's too late.

The rig hits the bus on the side, glass is broken off many windows, steel is twisted. Bus seats are torn and thrown across the bus. Screams are heard, blood spews most everyplace, a horrible nightmare come true.

Ed Maddox lays on the driving wheel dead of a broken neck.

Emmett looked up and he sees the bus driver laying down ...dead. He looked around and saw the woman that asked him the time...she had a piece of steel rod embedded in her chest . He remembers hearing she was a teacher. He looked over and Ronald was dead, glass all over him. He looked over at Sophia and he could tell she was alive, she was moaning. He rub his eyes and that's when he saw his hand covered in blood then he looked down at his body and he can't feel any pain but he sees blood just pouring out of his body. That's when he knows.

"Bro...ther?"

The words barely come out of his mouth but he said, "I'm here Sophia."

Sophia looked down at her bloody body then she looked around quickly then said,

"I, I 'm scared."

With blood streaming down his head, he picks up his Bible, shoves glass off of it then he said,

"Don't be..."

He coughed then he said again to her, "Don't be..."

He slowly leaned toward her and he gently laid his blood stained Bible on her chest then when his last gasp of breath, he said his final words,

"Can't you see the Promised Land?"

After that, he laid down and died. Sophia just screamed into the night holding onto the Bible for dear life.

**Sand n' Sable**

**A/N-NASB -New American Standard Bible was out in 1971, it actually came out in 1965.**


	2. Chapter 2 With the HELP

In less than an hour later, the EMTS had Sophia at the emergency room, the rolled her in on the gurney, you could tell she was in a state of shock. A doctor came walking in the room and the nurses were taking care of her and the head EMT said, "Female, 25, she was on a bus that had a head on collusion with an 18 wheeler. She's the only survivor...a few cuts and bruises is all we can see but as you can see, she's in a state of shock. She also said that she's pregnant."The doctor looked at the EMT then back at her and said, "Ma'am? Can you tell us your name?"Sophia looked up at the doctor then said, She looked up and the doctor then said; "He, he died, right in front of me ! H,h, he died!"The head nurse with them says, "She must be talking about one of the other young doctor looked at her then said, "No doubt. What's her sats?"

The nurse looked at Sophia holding onto the blood stained Bible then she said,

"She won't let us get a reading because she's holding onto the Bible. She won't let go of it."

The young doctor looked back at Sophia then he said to himself,

"Haven't I seen her around? It doesn't matter, she needs worked on!'

He then turned to the nurse then said in a aggitated voice:

"Haven't I told you before to not make things worse for the patient? Just go around something if the straight coarse doesn't work !"

He runs to Sophia's left side then in a soothing voice said,

"Ma'am, we got to take care of you." "H, he died right in front of me"

He nodded his head then said,

"I know but now we got to take care of you."

She looked around then she asked, "What do I do?"

"We got to take your blood pressure, you got to move the Bible."

She holds it tighter then said,

"I can't lose this Bible, he, he said it lead to the Promise land."

The doctor looked at the nurses then he turned to Sophia then said, "Just hold it in the other arm while we take care of you."

She thought about it then just moved the Bible over then they took her pressure then he said in a low voice;

"Don't make me do your job again "

They all start scrambling to help Sophia and the doctor orders some tests on her.

(((oOo)))

Some time later, Sophia wakes up in a hospital room, she looked around at first confused but then she turned over and looked out the window with sunshine coming through but icicles also hanging off the window. She looked around and saw her Bible laying on the table next to her. She smiled and reached for it then she turned it open to Genesis 4. She began reading about **_Cain and Abel _**but the first few lines of the chapter is what made her smile: "Now, the man had relations with his wife, Eve and she conceived again and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotton a manchild with _the help of the Lord."_

Just then a knock came on the door and she asked, "Who is it?"

A deep voice said, "Flowers for Miss Monroe."

At once, she was confused and she said to herself, "Flowers for me? Who knows I'm here? Who's sending me flowers?"

Despite her doubts, she said, "Come in"

She put down her Bible next to her in bed under the covers and the door opened and in walked a man with a big, pretty bouqet of Freesia flowers and at first she smiles but then he lowers the flowers and she says in a cold voice:

"Eric"

He threw the lovely flowers on the couch since they were just a gimmick to get in her room then he said,

"Hey, Sophie"

She spits out, "It's Sophia."

He then replies, "Oh, Sophie's better for you, got more action in it. When I heard about the wreck and that there was a lone female survivor in it, I figured it was you...nothing keeps Sophie down." He adds a wink to it then he said, "Anyway, I've come to pick you up and take you back to where you belong Sophie, get you back to work; I've already had several customers wanting their Sophie."

She gritted her teeth then she said in a low voice:

"I ain't going back Eric."

He looked at her then said, "What 'cha mean you ain't gong back? You think just cause you have been gone a day you think you too good for us babe? You're going back even if I have to pull you back caveman style."

Just then the door opens and in comes a nurse holding a new I.V. bag and she looked back and forth between Sophia and Eric then said, "It's time for a change Miss Monroe."

Sophia breathes a sigh of relief as the nurse came over to the right side of her bed. Sophia then said,

"This is uh, Eric, I _ USED_ to work for him and he just came by to check on me."

Eric looked at her with his cold, dark eyes then said, "Yeah, but I kept your job open and you are welcome to come back".

The nurse senses the tension in the room that you can cut with a butter knife and she goes to work changing Sophie's I.V. bag while Sophia despertly tries to think of SOMETHING to help herself. Then it hits her, she thinks of the word 'help' then she said in a trembling voice:

"Um, Eric, you always had a soothing voice, why don't you sing "Let it be" for me to calm me?"

He smiled not knowing it is really part of her plan while he sings, she tears a piece from her Bible. _ Genesis 4: 1-'I have gotton a manchild with the help of the Lord' _ She signaled to the nurse with her eyes to look down and take the paper. The nurse does and takes it quietly then leaves the room.

Outside the room, the nurse looked at the paper then goes to the doctor who helped Sophia in the E.R. then she said,

"Doctor Kershaw"

He puts down the pen he had in his hand then the nurse said,

"Miss Monroe just handed me this...she has a male visitor in that room and you could cut the tension with a knife. She had him sing Let it be while she tore this out to give to me."

He then said, "Call security NOW to her room."

He rushed past her while another nurse quickly picked up the phone and called security.

(((OoO)))

**I'm sorry for have taken so long with the next chapter but I have been having a mess with my eyes ! I have severe glacoma so I have been back and forth with doctors. I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R & R ( read and review )**

**Sand n' Sable**


End file.
